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Big Brother Lifetime Award Goes To Microsoft
D4C5CE writes "Microsoft's ceaseless "success" in bringing instability, insecurity and
breaches of privacy as well as a deplorable lack of open standards to
almost Every Desktop on Earth has now earned them an "Oscar" for Data
Leeches, the Lifetime Award for
"outstanding mis-achievement" from the BigBrotherAwards 2002
in Germany. Microsoft's
Data Protection Officer actually attended the ceremony to collect the
prize (probably delighted that unlike the "laureates"
of last year's event in Austria, at least he would not receive live
cockroaches), and this unlucky winner took the opportunity to make some critical
remarks on the company's communications regarding the Windows
Media Player and Digital Restrictions (or, euphemistically, in his words: Rights) Management technologies which he deemed crucial for modern
business models, rather than acknowledging that it's in fact not just the advertising but the approach itself which is fundamentally flawed."
Funny that these awards were held in Germany. Big Brother himself practically lives there. Germans are constantly spied upon by their own government! Add that to the fact that they have no free speech rights (just try to start a pro-nazi site or even sell nazi memorabilia) and you've got a pretty un-free state. The award should have gone to their own government rather than M$.
Microsoft wants people to be able to purchase movies online. The spread of Gnutella, Kazaa and the rest has ensured that anyone who attempts to start a busniess model doing this will be immediately undercut by a bunch of pirates who have never created anything in their lives.
DRM is the solution to this problem. Not only that, but DRM solvees this problem without adding any extra problems. Even existing pirated media still works. It does not restrict you in any way that the user does not agree to. If the user totally objects to all the limitations, then he is free not to download a movie.
The problem most definitely was the advertising, or lack thereof. By hiding it in this way, MS imply that there is something fundamentally underhand about their technology.
Heh.
Can you say (-1, Flamebait), kids?
I knew you could.
Funny how we never see stories like this about Linux.
slashdot!=valid HTML
Try this one: "The sound of one hand clapping." ...which is exactly what you'll hear here if the editors continue to pander to the juvenile knee-jerk dead-horse-pummeling which is its unthinking MS-bashing. Christ, the way it's done half the time, it's got to be a turn-off for even some of the real Linux-o-philes
Try this:
"OKAY, I *Get* it, you're EVIL!" -- Buffy Summers.
misconceptions still abound regarding windows.
2k and XP use a completely different kernel system, so comparing them to 98 and ME as the same thing is a bit foolish. the NT kernel is a much more stable platform, and has been much improved since the NT4 days.
as for product activation i swapped out my motherboard and did not have to reactivate my system. so I really don't see what all the fuss is about.
and also it is worth considering what would happen to the billions in dollars that go to charity every year through microsoft's matching program.
I dont see that many linux companies pouring out like that, unless it is to the EFF or the FSF.
why do these companies keep forgeting that their business models will prosper if they promote creativity, not restrict it with with all this s**t..
just my thoughts